The invention relates to systems and methods for cooling integrated circuits such as microprocessors.
The power consumption of microprocessors and other integrated circuits (IC) used in the electronics industry has been steadily increasing. Much of the electrical power used by such circuits is dissipated in the form of heat. Overheating may affect the performance of an integrated circuit and possible cause damage to the circuit. A common method of cooling integrated circuits involves heat sinks, which transfer heat between the circuit and the surrounding environment.
The quality of the physical contact between an integrated circuit and its heat sink affects the efficiency of heat transfer. Contact may be improved by placing a layer of thermal interface material (TIM) between the heat sink and the integrated circuit, and by effectively pressing the heat sink against the IC.
Some attachment designs require the use of a tool to perform the attachment of the heat sink to the IC. Requiring the use of a tool may add complexity to the system assembly process. At the same time, designers and manufactures may want to control the load applied between the heat sink and processors to a predefined range of values. Applying an excessively high load may cause damage to the underlying structures. A low applied load may lead to suboptimal heat transfer to the heat sink during the operation of the IC, and possibly to detachment of the heat sink from the IC during shock and vibration testing. In addition, as the power of ICs increases, system designers may wish to use increasingly large heat sinks and associated loads. Some heat sink attachment designs, such as some designs using flexible clips, may not be able to adequately secure relatively large heat sinks.